[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO RAY BURKHOLDER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT E. LATTA

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 17, 2009

  Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, it is with a great deal of pride that I 
rise to pay a very special tribute to a man who has dedicated 60 years 
to making weather observations for Northwest Ohio. Today, Ray 
Burkholder of Pandora, Ohio will celebrate this great milestone 
achieved by earlier weather recorders Benjamin Franklin, George 
Washington, and Thomas Jefferson.
  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National 
Weather Service was started in 1807, when the Nation's first scientific 
agency, the Survey of the Coast, was established. In the 1890s, NOAA 
established the Cooperative Weather Observation Program. Starting in 
1949, when Mr. Burkholder was brought into the NOAA in Northwest Ohio, 
he became an integral part of the Administration. Up to this day, Mr. 
Burkholder has taken nearly 21,900 observations. The data collected by 
Mr. Burkholder benefited federal, state, and local agencies including 
the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
  In addition to the Cooperative Weather Observation Program, Mr. 
Burkholder has served on the local area school board, and was the 
president of the Pandora Medical Center and the Mennonite Disaster 
Relief Service of Western Ohio.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying special 
tribute to Ray Burkholder. Mr. Burkholder's selfless commitment and 
dedication to the National Weather Service and Northwest Ohio has 
served our communities well. On behalf of the people of the Fifth 
District of Ohio, I am proud to recognize the service of Ray 
Burkholder.

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